HM Treasury

Financial Services

Dr William McCrea: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to monitor practices in the banking sector.

Andrea Leadsom: This Government has taken a number of major steps to strengthen monitoring and regulation of the banking sector.   The Financial Services Act 2012 put in place two new, properly focussed financial regulators, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) - a subsidiary of the Bank of England - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as part of a new approach to financial regulation. The new regulators started work on 1 April 2013.   The Government’s new approach to financial regulation enables the PRA to concentrate on monitoring the health of UK banks to ensure that they are prudently and competently managed and to reduce the risk that the practices of UK banks will lead to serious financial failure. At the same time, the FCA can concentrate on monitoring the practices of UK banks and other financial services businesses in their dealing with ordinary retail customers and in wholesale financial markets, to reduce the risk that the practices in the banking sector are detrimental to consumers or competition, or threaten the integrity of financial markets.   On 12 June 2014, the Government announced the Fair and Effective Markets Review, which is a joint review by HM Treasury, the Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into the way wholesale financial markets operate. The Government is determined to take action to help restore trust and integrity and to ensure that the highest standards are expected of those who operate in these markets. It is important that this is done in a way that preserves the UK’s position as the global financial centre for many of these markets. The Review published its consultation document “How fair and effective are the fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities markets?” on 27 October, and the Government looks forward to the review’s final recommendations in June 2015.

Tax Avoidance

Simon Kirby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts about measures to reduce tax avoidance; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Kirby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with his G7 counterparts about measures to reduce tax avoidance; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The UK is at the forefront of multilateral action through the G8, G20, European Union and OECD to tackle this issue of corporate tax avoidance. The UK used its Presidency of the G8 to successfully build international support for this work.   Work is now underway at the OECD, in the form of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. The BEPS project is the most comprehensive reform of the international tax rules with the aim of ensuring that multinational enterprises pay their fair share of tax, in the jurisdictions where their economic activity is located. The project has 44 participant countries, 21 of which are within the EU.   At the UK’s Lough Erne summit in June 2013 the G8 leaders confirmed their support for the ongoing G20/OECD work.   At their September 2013 summit in St Petersburg, the G20 Leaders fully endorsed the ambitious and comprehensive BEPS Action Plan set out over 2014 and 2015.   The first phase of the BEPS project is now complete, with participants reaching agreement on seven reports which have been produced by the OECD and endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers. The G8 called on the OECD to develop a common template for multinationals to report profit and tax information to tax authorities to help assess risks. This work was included in the BEPS Action Plan (action 13) and was one of seven outputs achieved in 2014.   Subsequently, the UK announced that it would be the first of 44 countries to formally commit to implementing the newly agreed BEPS output of a country-by-country reporting template.   Discussions are ongoing in G20 Finance Minister’s and ECOFIN meetings to ensure that the momentum of the BEPS project is maintained, so that the project is completed successfully and on time.   Further to the BEPS project, international work with G20 and EU counterparts is ongoing with the Automatic Exchange of Information policy.   The UK put tax transparency at the heart of its presidency of the G8, calling for the creation of a new global standard on automatic tax information exchange to tackle offshore tax evasion. The new global standard was developed by the OECD and agreed in July 2014. At the March European Council leaders committed to implement the standard in the EU through agreement of the amended Administrative Co-operation Directive, which they aim to agree by the end of the year.   In total 92 countries and have now committed to implement the new global standard, with the first information exchanged no later than 2018. This includes all EU Member States, all of the UK’s Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with a financial centre and the majority of the world’s financial centres. Of these countries and jurisdictions, 51 have already signed an international agreement to implement the standard.

EU Budget: Contributions

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his officials had with the Office for National Statistics between January and October 2014 on provision for backdating of payments of European contributions to accord with the European Statistics Agency reconciliation of the European Budget under ESA95.

Mr David Gauke: The net impact on UK contributions to the EU of revisions to the UK GNI under ESA95 could not have been calculated without the relevant information across all Member States.

EU Budget: Contributions

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the progress of arrangements to secure compliance with the requirements of ESA 2010 with respect to future calculation of the UK's European Budget contribution.

Mr David Gauke: Under the Own Resources Decision of 7 June 2007, ESA 95 is the current statistical base for calculations of Member State contributions to the EU Budget.   ESA2010 will not become the statistical base for Member State contributions to the EU Budget until the new Own Resources Decision, agreed in May 2014, comes into force following ratification by all EU Member States.

EU Budget: Contributions

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of the European Statistics Agency's calculation of UK's contribution liability in respect of the European Budget under ESA 95 between 27 May and 13 October 2014.

Mr David Gauke: The European Commission are responsible for calculating Member State contributions to the EU Budget using data provided by Eurostat who collate and validate the data from Member States’ national statistical institutions, including for the UK the Office for National Statistics.   As the Prime Minister has stated, HM Treasury will now assess the data in exhaustive detail to check how the statistics were arrived at and the methodology that was used.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Treasury is committed to improving the energy efficiency of the Department’s estate and reducing energy consumption year on year. LED lighting has already been introduced in leasehold premises occupied by part of the Treasury Group. We have introduced energy efficient fluorescent lighting in the Treasury main building on Horse Guards Road.

Currencies

Mr Mark Hoban: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2014, to the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan, Official Report, column 26W, on Bitcoin, what his policy is on the regulation of Bitcoin derivatives and other securities paired to digital currencies.

Andrea Leadsom: Bitcoin itself is not regulated. However, the UK’s regulatory perimeter in relation to derivatives is wide and would capture Bitcoin and digital currency derivatives that were futures, options or contracts for difference.

Currencies

Mr Mark Hoban: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his speech of 6 August 2014 on FinTech, what progress his Department has made on its programme of work exploring the potential of virtual currencies and digital money.

Andrea Leadsom: On 3 November the Treasury published a Call for Information, focused on the potential benefits and risks of digital currencies and looking into whether digital currencies could or should be regulated in the UK.

Currencies

Mr Mark Hoban: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the ability of businesses using digital currencies to open a UK bank account.

Andrea Leadsom: On 3 November the Treasury published a Call for Information on digital currencies. This Call for Information asks whether there are currently barriers to digital currency businesses setting up in the UK, and will consider access to UK bank accounts as part of this.   In October, the Financial Conduct Authority launched its Innovation Hub to provide support to innovative businesses. It has identified helping innovators access bank accounts as an area of priority.

Housing: Construction

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what forecasts he has made of the long-term trends in house-building in each region and constituent part of the UK.

Andrea Leadsom: The government does not publish forecasts of long term house building by region or constituency. However the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) includes housing market projections in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The next estimates are to be released on the 3rd December.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the Electoral Commission's policy is on referral to the police of electoral registration officers who do not fulfil their legal obligations.

Mr Gary Streeter: Where an ERO does not carry out their duties in full, the Commission’s priority is to take action to ensure that the ERO makes improvements to their performance in the discharge of their functions. In doing this, the Commission will consider all available options to determine a proportionate response based on the facts of each particular case.Failure to comply with a legal duty can constitute an offence. It is open to anyone who believes that such an offence may have been committed to refer the matter to the police for investigation. In deciding whether to bring a prosecution the Crown Prosecution Service would consider all relevant circumstances, including the reasons for the alleged breach and whether a prosecution is in the public interest.

Prime Minister

Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press Inquiry

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, when he last met (a) Andy Coulson, (b) Rebekah Brooks, (c) Rupert Murdoch and (d) Trevor Kavanagh; what the purpose of each such meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: Details of my meetings are available on the gov.uk website.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment and Support Allowance: Northern Ireland

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants there are in each constituency in Northern Ireland.

Mr Mark Harper: These are devolved matters which are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive Minister for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at: http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Personal Independence Payment

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014 to Question 203682, whether the Government has met its expectation that no-one is waiting longer than 26 weeks for a personal independence payment assessment.

Mr Mark Harper: We are absolutely committed to improving performance and will continue to work to further reduce processing times and levels of work outstanding. Both providers have more than doubled the number of assessment reports they are returning to the Department since January, as shown in the official statistics published in September, and the number of decisions made has further increased over recent months. Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of personal independence payment performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.

Social Security Benefits: Disclosure of Information

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provisions are in place to protect whistleblowers in (a) Jobcentre Plus and (b) Work Programme providers.

Steve Webb: (a) Whilst Jobcentres remain the branding of the Department's frontline face to face service, the executive agency status of Jobcentre Plus ended during 2011-12 as DWP integrated its frontline agencies into one operation. DWP has a Whistleblowing policy which covers all employees. This encourages employees to raise any concerns about wrongdoing. Where an employee raises a concern under this policy, the procedures ensure that they are provided with protection, help and support. (b) Responsibility for the protection of whistleblowers in Work Programme providers rests with their employers. Employers are subject to the Public Interest Disclosure Act which protects whistleblowers from suffering any detriment as a result of raising a genuine concern.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Mike Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Minister for Pensions plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Angus dated 1 September 2014 and emails dated 24 and 30 October 2014 seeking information first requested from the Pensions Service on 7 May 2014 on his constituent Patricia Moore.

Steve Webb: A Departmental Director replied to the hon. Member on 3 November 2014, on my behalf. I apologise for the delay in resolving his constituent’s concerns. Unfortunately, we have no record of receiving the letter of 1st September.

Carer's Allowance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will raise the carer's allowance.

Mr Mark Harper: The level of Carer’s Allowance is considered by the Secretary of State as part of the annual benefit uprating process. The benefit rates for 2015 will be announced in December and will come in to force from April next year.

Carers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people spending fewer than 35 hours a week caring for someone with substantial caring needs.

Mr Mark Harper: The number of informal carers (those who provide help for an adult or child within or outside the household), as recorded in the Family Resources Survey, is 5.6 million. Of these, it is estimated that 71% are providing less than 35 hours care per week. The FRS is known to underestimate the number of carers and the true figure is likely to be higher than this. Information on the number of those being cared for with ‘substantial care needs’ is not available as it is not possible to identify those individuals and their carers in existing survey or administrative datasets.

Home Office

Entry Clearances: West Africa

Dame Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what visa arrangements are being made for citizens of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea whose visas are expiring or expired and whose return flights have been cancelled by the relevant airlines.

James Brokenshire: The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should not be a general ban on international travel or trade to the countries affected by ebola. This is consistent with the position of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, whose advice for British nationals is that travel for essential reasons should continue. Nationals from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone whose flights have been cancelled but whose visas are expiring or expired are therefore expected to re-arrange their flights and leave the UK at the earliest opportunity. However, the Government is monitoring the situation closely.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national prisoners released without consideration of deportation since 2010 have been (a) subsequently convicted of a crime in the UK, (b) sentenced to prison or community sentence in the UK and (c) been deported.

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) name, (b) offence and (c) date of deportation was of the foreign national prisoners released without consideration of deportation since 2010 who were subsequently convicted.

James Brokenshire: Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Illegal Immigrants

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to deport illegal migrants to their home country.

James Brokenshire: We have recently legislated in the Immigration Act 2014 to make it harder for illegal migrants to remain in the country undetected and to encourage people to leave of their own accord. The provisions include implementing a penalty for those landlords who rent property to immigrants without leave in the UK, denying free access to most secondary healthcare in the UK to illegal immigrants, requiring banks to check against a database of known immigration offenders before opening accounts, introducing new powers to check the immigration status of applicants before issuing a driving licence and revoking the driving licences of those migrants who have overstayed, and introducing new powers to clamp down on those trying to gain immigration advantage by entering into a sham marriage or civil partnership. We have also used the Immigration Act to streamline the process of enforcing the removal of illegal migrants when necessary. We have reduced the number of appeal rights from 17 to 4, and set out clearly in primary legislation the right balance on Article 8 rights, to prevent individuals from playing the system. We have also streamlined the process of serving immigration decisions to reduce bureaucracy and further accelerate the system.We also introduced on 1 January 2014 new regulations allowing us to prevent the re-entry to the UK for up to 12 months of EEA nationals who areremoved for failing to exercise treaty rights, unless they have a valid reason to be here. These measures support and enhance our immigration enforcement capability, with teams operating on a targeted, risk-based approach across the country to detect and remove illegal migrants. This effort has also been given fresh impetus with the break-up of the UK Border Agency and the creation of a focused Immigration Enforcement operational command.

Asylum: Syria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2014 to Question 210553, how many of the people granted humanitarian protection under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme (a) are family members of individuals who qualify as vulnerable under the scheme and (b) have been assessed as having serious medical needs.

James Brokenshire: Of the people granted Humanitarian Protection under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme up to the end of June 2014, 11 are Principal Applicants and 39 are dependant family members. Of these people 14 have been assessed as having serious medical needs.

UK Border Force

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the budget was for Border Force (a) total and (b) operations expenditure in 2013-14.

James Brokenshire: The budget for Border Force for (a) total and (b) operations expenditure in 2013-14.(a) Total Budget £467 million(b) Operational Budget £396million

Travel Restrictions

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from each country were (a) added to and (b) removed from the travel exclusion list in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire: It is long-standing policy not to discuss information held on watch lists as to do so would not be in the interests of border and national security.

Travel Restrictions

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions visa bans have been used to prevent people from each country of origin considered to be involved in corruption or organised crime from travelling to the UK in each of the last five years; and on how many occasions such bans have been revoked.

James Brokenshire: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Illegal Immigrants

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many clandestine entrants were identified within the UK after passing through one of the UK's points of entry in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire: The table below shows the number of forms IS151A issued to clandestine entrants within the United Kingdom. This notifies an individual that they are liable to detention and removal from the UK as an illegal entrant. The Home Office does not hold reliable data prior to 2005.  Clandestine identifiedYearNumber of IS151A Papers served200512,013200610,623200712,027200813,239200910,73520106,92920116,83620126,52020138,564  Total87,486  · Figures in the table above are based on a count of case type illegal entry clandestine. · Data is up to 30 September 2014.· Data based on people with case type as above and outcome of 'Served IS151A'. An IS151A may be issued at the time of encounter, but may be recorded as a clandestine entrant based on the lack of a lawful method of entry to the UK being found (which may be clandestine entry but could have been document abuse)

Illegal Immigrants

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support his Department provides to British lorry drivers to prevent people seeking to enter the UK illegally accessing their vehicles at (a) Calais and (b) other ports of entry to the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office publishes guidance advising hauliers on vehicle security, but also what they should do if they believe somebody is hiding in their vehicle. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/secure-your-vehicle-to-help-stop-illegal-immigration. This website also includes contact details for Border Force’s Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Team, from whom hauliers also receive advice.

Overseas Students

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his policy is on excluding foreign university students from net immigration targets.

James Brokenshire: Net migration statistics are produced by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). In line with the internationally agreed UN definition, these statistics define a migrant as someone changing their normal place of residence for more than a year. This includes students in net migration in the same way as other migrants. Other countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also include students in their net migration figures. Net migration measures the difference between the number of peoplecoming the UK and the number leaving, so if students return home aftertheir studies, their impact on long-term net migration will be minimal. The ONS has recently improved its methodology so that it is possible tobetter identify students in the emigration flows to give a more accurate measure of the contribution of students to overall net migration.In the last year, 124,000 non-EU students came to Britain to stay for more than 12 months, and the ONS estimates that only 50,000 left the country. All migrants who are in the UK for 12 months or more have an impact on our communities, infrastructure and public services. Changing the way we measure migration would not make any difference to our student migration policy. There is no cap on the number of students who can come to the UK, and the county remains open to the brightest and the best.

Entry Clearances: Offenders

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions visa bans have been used to prevent people considered to be involved in corruption or organised crime from travelling to the UK in each year between 2005 and 2009, by country of origin; and on how many occasions such bans have subsequently been revoked.

James Brokenshire: This information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to the Referred Casework Unit on how to process compassionate compelling cases; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Guidance available to Entry Clearance Officers and the Referred Casework Unit on exceptional circumstances and compassionate factors when considering family migration applications is available in the ' Family Life (as a Partner or Parent): 5-Year Routes' guidance which is published on Gov.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chapter-8-appendix-fm-family-members The referred Casework Unit also consider ad hoc applications in other visa categories when referred by an Entry Clearance Manager overseas where there are compelling and compassionate circumstances and where there may be consideration given to a grant of leave to enter outside the rules.

Counter-terrorism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2014, to Question 210147, if she will (a) list which agencies are classified as frontline agencies, (b) provide a breakdown of Government spending by Department and (c) provide a brief explanation of the projects on which the funds were spent.

James Brokenshire: For question 210147 of 27 October 2014, the following were classed as frontline agencies:• National Offenders Management Service• Youth Justice Board• Crown Prosecution Service• The Police• Charity Commission• Higher Education and Further Education• HealthFor national security reasons we do not provide a breakdown on spend by Government department.Local authorities are instrumental in preventing people being drawn into terrorism. We focus activity in 30 priority areas identified as highest risk. Each priority area receives funding for a Prevent coordinator and can bid for funding for local projects to address specific risks. An additional seven areas currently receive support from Home Office to undertake Prevent initiatives. Over 180 community-based Prevent projects have been approved since 2011 and have reached over 45,000 people since early 2012. We are currently supporting over 70 projects, all of which focus on the current threat, including Syria and Iraq. Projects include training for frontline staff, courses equipping parents to identify risks and have the confidence to seek support should they need it, and training on the dangers of online extremism.

Passports

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends to secure professional photo industry accreditation, sanction and support for plans to allow digital images to be used in future passport applications, and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) currently has no plans regarding the accreditation of digital photograph providers. However, HMPO is engaged in dialogue with the Photo Marketing Association. The needs of our customers are continually reviewed and we continue to adjust our service to ensure their experience is as well supported as is reasonable and practical.

Entry Clearances: Egypt

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason she has revoked the multi-entry visa of Amr Darrag, the former Egyptian Minister for International Co-operation.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. The Home Office has obligations in law to protect this information.Before issuing a visa, entry clearance officers overseas must be satisfied a foreign national meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules in the category of entry sought and that they have not brought themselves within scope of the general grounds for refusal. An Entry Clearance Manager has the power under the Immigration Rules to revoke a visa where appropriate.

Mediterranean Sea

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contributions the Government made to the Mare Nostrum rescue program before the decision to no longer support it.

James Brokenshire: Mare Nostrum is an Italian search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean. The UK has had no involvement in, and made no contributions to, the operation. We continue to work with Italy and other EU Member States to address migratory pressures in the Mediterranean, for the sake of law abiding citizens and in the best interests of those tempted to make this dangerous journey. This includes providing support to Frontex, the EU external borders agency, and finding ways to address the causes of illegal migration and organised crime in countries of origin and transit.

Immigration

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2014 to Question 207807, whether a date has been set for commencement of section 65 of the Immigration Act 2014.

James Brokenshire: Section 65 of the 2014 Act will insert new registration provisions into the British Nationality Act 1981 for people born to British fathers before 1 July 2006. As my previous answer explained, the 2014 Act is being implemented in phases to ensure the provisions are brought into force in an orderly and effective manner. We have not yet set a commencement date for Section 65.

Gangmasters

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of exploitation have been identified by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in sectors other than the agriculture sector in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) do not capture information on exploitation identified purely outside the sector they regulate. Where worker exploitation outside these sectors comes to the attention of the GLA the information is disseminated to appropriate other agencies. If workers contact the GLA to report exploitation they are referred tothe Pay and Worker Rights Helpline operated by the Business, Innovation and Skills Department.

Asylum: Sri Lanka

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of returning failed asylum seekers to Sri Lanka on the ability of the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights to investigate violations of human rights in that country; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Government does not believe that returning unsuccessful asylum applicants to Sri Lanka impacts on the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights ability to investigate human rights abuses in that country. As with any other nationality, all asylum and human rights applications from Sri Lankan nationals are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and against the background of the latest available country of origin information from a wide range of well-recognised sources. The Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights is entitled to speak to any returnees as well as other individuals, if they chose to do so. Likewise, a decision to co-operate or not should be the choice of the person concerned. The fact that they may have made an unsuccessful asylum application in the UK – or anywhere else – does not affect this process.

Slavery

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on (a) the Telegraph Modern Slavery in Britain site, (b) the Modern Slavery advertising campaign and (c) the website www.modernslavery.co.uk; and what assessment she has made of the effects of that expenditure on awareness-raising and prevention of modern slavery.

Karen Bradley: a) The Telegraph Modern Slavery webpages are part of a wider media partnership with the newspaper, which also includes print and online advertorials and digital advertising. The total cost of the partnership with The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph is £125,000. We are unable to give costs of constituent parts of the partnership, including the website, because of commercial confidentiality. b) The Home Office has allocated a communications campaign budget of £2.3 million to raise awareness of Modern Slavery in the UK.c) The Home Office has spent £44,000 on the Modern Slavery website. The campaign is being evaluated to ascertain its success in raising awareness of modern slavery in a number of ways including: reports of potential incidences of slavery via the new helpline and website; a pre and post campaign survey of 2,000 adults to measure shifts in awareness, attitudes and claimed behaviour; visits and activity on the website; evaluation of advertising reach and engagement.

Human Trafficking

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to address the increase in male victims of trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The nature and scale of modern slavery is kept under constant review to ensure that our response to this terrible crime is strong, effective and flexible. Specialised support for male victims of trafficking is currently offered through the victim care contract run by The Salvation Army, in England and Wales. We continue to assess the needs of potential victims identified through the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that our support services meet the specific needs of individual victims to help them recover from their ordeal.

Human Trafficking

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to prevent agency workers becoming victims of trafficking for labour exploitation.

Karen Bradley: We are committed to stamping out modern slavery in all its forms including labour exploitation involving agency workers. Law enforcement agencies including the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, the police and the National Crime Agency have made commitments as part of the Modern Slavery Strategy to ensure that they will work with the private sector and upstream to prevent workers being exploited and trafficked. The Strategy is expected to be published shortly.

Human Trafficking

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide details of the methodology used to develop the annual National Crime Agency Strategic Assessment of the Nature and Scale of Human Trafficking in the UK.

Karen Bradley: Details of the methodology used to develop the annual National Crime Agency Strategic Assessment of the Nature and Scale of Human Trafficking in the UK are set out in the report for 2013, published on 30 September 2014. The report can be found at: www.nca.police.uk/publications. If a person receives a negative Reasonable Grounds or negative Conclusive Decision, this means that they have been found not to be a victim of human trafficking for the purpose of the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Organised Crime: Republic of Ireland

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level and effectiveness of the UK's co-operation with the Irish Republic in tackling cross-border organised crime.

James Brokenshire: Crime, and especially organised crime, does not respect borders. International co-operation is therefore essential. The relationship withthe Republic of Ireland is particularly important given its land border with a part of the United Kingdom. The relationships between the law enforcement agencies in Northern Ireland, who are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, as well as bodies such as HM Revenue and Customs, Border Force and the National Crime Agency which are UK-wide bodies, and their counterparts inthe Republic of Ireland are very good. The North South cross border organisedcrime conference held on 1-2 October with all the major bodies is one example of the desire to develop that co-operation further.

Stop and Search

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people had their vehicle stopped and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each of the last five years; and how many of those were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of a (i) notifiable and (ii) terrorism-related offence in each police force area.

James Brokenshire: Available information relates to the number of persons in vehicles and the number of unattended vehicles searched under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in 2009/10 and 2010/11. Data are given in the table. There have been no reported searches of persons or vehicles since the replacement of section 44 with section 47a in February 2011.Data on persons prosecuted as a direct result of searches under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act are not held centrally.   



Vehicles searched under Section 44
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22.5 KB)

Asylum: Sri Lanka

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Sri Lankan asylum seekers who claimed asylum in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012, (e) 2013 and (f) 2014, have been found to be victims of torture; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not collate statistics on this matter. All information pertaining to an individuals asylum claim is recorded on their case file and to answer this question would require a comprehensive review of all case files, which would involve a prohibitive cost.

Arrests

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent people performing citizens' arrests being prosecuted.

Mike Penning: Section 24a of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 gives citizens a power of arrest for indictable offences. Liability to be prosecuted as a result of making such an arrest is an operational matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.The Crown Prosecution Service has published comprehensive guidance on this matter on its website. This can be found at the following link:http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/self_defence/#Civilian_Powers_of

Slavery

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has consulted non-governmental organisations in the preparation of the Modern Slavery Action Plan; and when she will publish the Plan.

Karen Bradley: A wide range of stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations have been consulted as part of the development of the Modern Slavery Strategy. The Strategy is expected to be published shortly.

Human Trafficking

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the National Referral Mechanism review team is taking to consider best practice from other EU member states.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Human Trafficking

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase co-ordination and coherence in intelligence gathering techniques used in police investigations on human trafficking.

Karen Bradley: Tackling Modern slavery is a priority for the National Crime Agency, which is committed to improving the co-ordination and coherence of intelligence gathering processes, working with law enforcement partners in the UK and abroad. For example, Europol helped facilitate the arrest of 90 people suspected of human trafficking as part of Operation Archimedes in September this year, and that is why the Government is seeking to rejoin the measure on 1 December. The Modern Slavery Strategy, which will be published shortly, will set out a number of measures to improve the way in which intelligence on modern slavery is gathered, analysed and shared with law enforcement partners.

Human Trafficking

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) victims of trafficking and (b) victim direct service providers have been consulted during the review of the National Referral Mechanism for victims of human trafficking.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigrants: Detainees

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were moved between different immigration removal centres in each of the last six months.

James Brokenshire: The information requested cannot be provided without collation and examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Offences against Children

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the report of the Government's inquiry into historic child abuse will be shared with her Department before it is published.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 24 September 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Shahrzad Nehzat.

James Brokenshire: I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 3 November 2014.

Driving Offences

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many roadside checks for (a) speed, (b) use of seat belts and child restraints, (c) vehicle safety and roadworthiness and (d) driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs were carried out in (i) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (ii) Suffolk and (iii) England and Wales by each police force in each of the last three years.

Mike Penning: Available information relates to the number of roadside breath tests conducted in Suffolk and England and Wales, these data are provided in the table. Data for 2013 is scheduled for publication in Spring 2015.Data on the number of roadside checks for speed, use of seatbelts and driving under the influence of drugs, as well as breakdowns for Bury St Edmunds constituency are not reported to the Home Office.  Number of roadside breath tests conducted, 2010-2012 Area201020112012 Suffolk10,50111,83216,083 England and Wales736,846685,992682,558

Northern Ireland Office

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: My Department has not incurred any costs in respect of expenditure on focus groups or surveys during 2013 and to date in 2014.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make it her policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout her Department's buildings and sites; if she will estimate the proportion of lighting in her Department which is LED; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: My Department’s premises are not owned by the Northern Ireland Office. Any policy and/or cost to replace the lighting will be the responsibility of the landlords. Details are not held regarding the proportion of LED lighting currently in place.

Mobile Phones

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department spent on iPhones in each year since 2010.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Since 2010, my Department has spent the following amounts per year on iPhones:2010 - Nil2011 - Nil2012 - £2,0422013 - £1,9372014 - Nil

Department of Health

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports he has received from Health and Wellbeing Boards on improvements in raising diabetes awareness.

Norman Lamb: The Department has received no reports from Health and Wellbeing Boards on improvements in raising awareness of diabetes.

Drugs: Scotland

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and merits of (a) the recently announced New Medicines Fund in Scotland and (b) other funding models aimed at driving improved patient access to innovative medicines in the context of the payments made by the pharmaceutical industry under the current Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme.

George Freeman: The New Medicines Fund in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government and it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on its effectiveness or merits.   In England, in accordance with normal government accounting rules and the agreed 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS), there is no separately identified or ring-fenced funding stream associated with PPRS payments. Nevertheless, the Government can provide an assurance that all PPRS payments received for England will be used for spending on improving patients’ health and care. As part of this, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry are pressing ahead with plans to improve access to and optimise the use of medicines to improve patient outcomes.

Ebola

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans the Government is making for quarantine procedures for people entering the UK from countries where the Ebola virus is present in the event of a further spread of that virus.

Jane Ellison: In addition to departure screening in affected countries, entry screening has been introduced for people travelling to the United Kingdom from Ebola infected areas. This also provides them with clear advice about immediate actions should they develop any relevant symptoms.   There are already public health powers in place to enable the quarantining of an individual suffering from the symptoms of Ebola should they be needed.   The Government keeps the threat posed to the UK by the spread of Ebola virus disease, and the measures required to tackle it, under regular review.

Domestic Violence: Northern Ireland

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety in the Northern Ireland Executive on the 24 Hour Domestic and Sexual Violence Helpline in Northern Ireland; and what assessment he has made of the success of that service.

Jane Ellison: No such discussion has taken place and we are unable to make an assessment of services that are a devolved matter.

General Practitioners

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have been removed from GPs' lists in each of the last three years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Radiography: Training

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many radiologists are due to finish their training in the next 12 months.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The number of radiologists due to finish their training in the next 12 months in England is in the following table. This table provided by Health Education England uses 2013 data and indicates for every quarter how many trainees are due to complete the programme.   The 2014 dataset update is due at the end of November. This will include data from more recent annual reviews of competence progression.  Programme SpecialtyEstimated Finish Date QuarterEstimated Finish Date YearNumber of doctors gaining Certificate of Completion of TrainingClinical Radiology420149Clinical Radiology1201513Clinical Radiology2201511Clinical Radiology32015163Clinical Radiology4201529  Total225 Source: Health Education England

NHS Trusts: Pay

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many increases to the annual salaries of Chairs of NHS Trusts that were over the limit set by him have been authorised by the NHS Trust Development Authority in each of the last three years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: On 1 October 2012, the Secretary of State for Health transferred responsibility for issues relating to the appointment of chairs of NHS trusts from the Appointments Commission to the NHS Trust Development Authority. Power to determine levels of remuneration payable to them has, however, never been delegated and still rests with the Secretary of State.

Surgery: Obesity

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) obese patients and (b) smokers have been denied routine operations in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison: Information on the number of obese patients and smokers considered unsuitable for operations is not collected centrally.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP practices have not been able to replace doctors who have retired in each of the last three years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information is not collected by the Department. The last GP Vacancy Survey in England was undertaken by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in 2010. The survey was suspended in 2011 and then discontinued in 2013 following the publication of the Fundamental Review of Data Returns, which aimed to reduce the burden of the collection of data from National Health Service organisations.

Mental Health Services: Teachers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of mindfulness-based (a) cognitive therapy teachers and (b) stress reduction teachers in England.

Norman Lamb: We do not collect this data centrally.

Hospitals: Parking

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will include in the new NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles reduced fees for families of long-term hospital patients.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department published new National Health Service patient, visitor and staff car parking principles on 23 August 2014. These principles, widely welcomed by a range of charities and organisations representing patients’ interests, made it clear that NHS trusts should provide concessions, including free or reduced charges or caps, to the following groups:   - people with disabilities; - frequent outpatient attenders; - visitors with relatives who are gravely ill; - visitors to relatives who have an extended stay in hospital; and - staff working shifts that mean public transport cannot be used.   Therefore, families of long-term hospital patients should be able to take advantage of the concessions for visitors to relatives who have an extended stay in hospital.

Diabetes

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations about the availability of free diabetes tests.

Jane Ellison: There have been no recent discussions between the Secretary of State and devolved administrations on the availability of free diabetes tests.

Radiography: Consultants

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many consultant radiologist posts in NHS trusts are (a) vacant and (b) covered by locums.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are no official statistics on the number of vacancies for any profession or group in the National Health Service following the decommissioning of the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) vacancy survey in 2011.   The HSCIC only provides statistics relating to locum consultants in clinical radiology that have a fixed term or permanent contract with an organisation. The latest monthly workforce statistics for 31 July 2014 shows that there are 19 full time equivalent locum consultants in clinical radiology in the NHS in England.   Radiologists also work in the private and independent sectors but the numbers are not collected centrally.

NHS: Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on NHS staff in terms of (a) wellbeing levels, (b) stress levels, (c) levels of care and compassion, (d) staff absence and (e) productivity.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has not assessed the effect of mindfulness based interventions on National Health Service staff in respect of wellbeing, stress, levels of care and compassion, absence and productivity, the management of which are the responsibility of individual employers.   Following the Francis report (www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/), the Department has also commissioned NHS Employers to support trusts improve the emotional and mental health and wellbeing of their staff, staff engagement and organisational development. This includes the production of training packages for the management of mental health issues, a behaviour change toolkit and an emotional wellbeing pathway to help NHS staff access support and interventions for themselves and their colleagues.

Depression: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in the average age of the onset of depression in young people over the last 30 years.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect this information.   We are aware of a report by the Nuffield Foundation (2013), Social trends and mental health: Introducing the Main Findings, which said that there has been an increase in the proportion of young people reporting frequent feelings of depression or anxiety. This figure doubled between the mid 1980’s and 2005. For boys aged 15/16, rates were found to increase from approximately 1 in 30 to 2 in 30. For girls they increased from approximately 1 in 10 to 2 in 10.   The Department, with key partners, is in the process of commissioning a new prevalence survey of children and young people’s mental health to provide an accurate picture of mental health in children and young people.

Drugs: Misuse

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of charging for NHS services required because of injuries caused by alcohol or drug misuse.

Jane Ellison: We recognise that drinking alcohol and drug use does place significant strain on the National Health Service, but there are both ethical and practical reasons not to seek payment from patients. The founding principle of the NHS is that services are free of charge, available to all on the basis of need, not ability to pay. It is funded accordingly, from general taxation.

NHS: Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding NHS England makes available for promoting staff wellbeing.

Dr Daniel Poulter: In 2014-15, NHS England has allocated £177,027 for promoting its own staff wellbeing as well as an additional £10,000 for flu prevention.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has funded focus groups and surveys, but extracting the amount of spend could only be done at disproportionate cost.

NHS: Interpreters

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many interpreters have been employed by or for the NHS in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost of such interpreters has been.

Norman Lamb: We do not hold this information centrally. National Health Service organisations have a duty to follow equalities legislation. This includes making sure their communities can understand information about the trust's services and that patients and clinicians can communicate with each other.

Ebola

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to introduce further measures at airports to prevent the spread of Ebola to the UK.

Jane Ellison: The Government has put in place enhanced screening and monitoring at the United Kingdom’s main ports of entry for people travelling from the affected Ebola regions.   The risk of transmission occurring within the community in the UK is, and remains very low due to the range of robust measures that have been put in place including screening. However, we keep the screening programme under regular review and will take into account any significant changes in the factors underpinning this assessment.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the time taken to conclude negotiations for a price for including the vaccine for meningitis B in the national immunisation programme; and when those negotiations will be completed.

Jane Ellison: The Department is continuing negotiations for the supply of the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero® with the manufacturer Novartis.   It would not be appropriate to comment on these commercial negotiations, which will be completed as quickly as practicable.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2014 to Question 211725, on mental health services: young people, in which areas there is anecdotal evidence of increasing waiting times.

Norman Lamb: We do not have systematic evidence of increasing waiting times across the different ‘tiers’ of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Anecdotal evidence for increasing waiting times we are aware of does not link to specific geographical areas or providers.   The Charity YoungMinds and the CAMHS Benchmarking Report by the NHS Benchmarking Network have both reported increased waiting times for services.   YoungMinds state that lack of access to services and long waiting lists are common issues raised through the YoungMinds Parent’s helpline.   The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Tier 4 Report identifies a long waiting time for beds in some areas, and as a result NHS England is investing £7 million this financial year to provide up to 50 additional beds in the areas with greatest need.   We are keen to ensure that children and young people are able to access mental health services as and when they need them. The Children and Adolescent Mental Health Wellbeing Taskforce is focusing on a number of issues which need to be addressed in child and adolescent mental health, including the current complexity faced by children and young people and their parents and carers in understanding and accessing child and adolescent mental health services.   In October we published a 5 Year Plan Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 which sets out the case for comprehensive access and waiting time standards in mental health for people of all ages. It announces the introduction of standard waiting times for Early Intervention in Psychosis services which will be of benefit to young people, and for the adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Where adult IAPT services are commissioned to provide a service to 16 and 17 year olds, the waiting time standards will apply to all those attending the service, regardless of their age.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Tata Steel

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Urgent Question on 16 October 2014, Official Report, column 445, on Tata Steel, what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have held with (a) Tata Steel and (b) trades unions to discuss the selling of the Long Products Division.

Matthew Hancock: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and officials maintain a regular dialogue with the senior management of Tata Steel.   Most recently the Secretary of State had a telephone conversation with Karl Kohler, CEO Tata Steel Europe on 29 September 2014; and met Cyrus Mistry, Chairman Tata Group in India on 14 October 2014. Official level contact is regular and ongoing.   We stand ready to engage with the trades unions to discuss and listen to their views on the proposed sale.

Home Care Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to take account of the omission of (a) some workers paid below the lower earnings limit and (b) unpaid travel time from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings when using that survey to estimate non-payment of the national minimum wage among homecare workers.

Jo Swinson: The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is an employer based pay survey and provides the most accurate information available from which we can derive non-compliance estimates. Estimates are based on a sample from pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) data and may not include some workers earning below the lower earnings limit. However, following the introduction of Real Time Information, ASHE now includes the majority of those earning below the lower earnings limit.   The HMRC paper “National Minimum Wage compliance in the social care sector” (November 2013) looked at, amongst other things, the issue of unpaid travel time in compliance. It found that unpaid travel time was not the main cause of non-compliance in the sector.   We take non-compliance in the care sector very seriously, and to proactively tackle non-compliance HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage.   The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Individuals should contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made.

Social Enterprises: South East

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many social enterprises there were in (a) Brighton and Hove, (b) East Sussex and (c) the South East in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not produce statistics giving geographical breakdowns of the number of social enterprises. National level estimates are produced using the Small Business Survey, which does not have a sufficiently large sample to provide sub-national estimates. BIS estimates there are 280,000 social enterprises in the UK.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Jo Swinson: This information is not held centrally within BIS and could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the Department.

Timber: Imports

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what tonnage of imports of wood pellets there has been into the UK in the last three years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Apprentices

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland were paid the apprentice rate of the national minimum wage in the last year for which figures are available.

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he expects to publish the 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey.

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices under 19 were paid less than £90 per week in the last year for which data are available.

Nick Boles: Information on apprenticeship pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is published in research findings from the Apprenticeship Pay Survey. The most recent survey covers apprentices working in 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2012 In England, 71 per cent of apprentices received on or above the minimum amount they should get based on their year and/or age. In Wales the figure was 82 per cent The 2014 Apprenticeship Pay Survey will be published in December 2014. The report does not show how many apprentices under 19 earned less than £90 per week, as it does not link hours worked to pay rates. However, the mean average hourly rate for apprentices under 19 was £3.77 in England and Wales and £3.34 in Northern Ireland.

Society Network Foundation

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department awarded in (a) grants and (b) contracts to the Society Network Foundation between 2010 and 2014.

Jo Swinson: The Core Department’s financial records confirm that the Society Network Foundation has not been paid any grants nor awarded any contracts during the requested period.

Big Society Network

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department awarded in (a) grants and (b) contracts to the Big Society Network between 2010 and 2014.

Jo Swinson: The Core Department’s financial records confirm that the Big Society Network has not been paid any grants nor awarded any contracts during the requested period.

Big Society Network and Society Network Foundation

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many civil servants or special advisers his Department seconded to (a) the Big Society Network and (b) the Society Network Foundation between 2010 and 2014.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold any central data on the number and location of staff on secondment.

Ministry of Defence

European Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current service life in flight hours is of Typhoon aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 October 2014 to Question 210204. This can be found at the following link;http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=210204

Navy

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the order of battle is for the Fleet.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the order of battle is of the Commando Brigade.

Mr Mark Francois: As at 15 October 2014 the Order of Battle for the Fleet is as follows:Order of BattleLanding Platform Helicopter1Landing Platform Dock2Type 45 Destroyer6Type 23 Frigate13Hunt Class Mine Countermeasure Vessel (MCV)8Sandown Class MCV7River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel3Helicopter Offshore Patrol Vessel1P2000 Patrol Boats18Ocean Survey Vessel1Coastal Survey Vessel3Ice Patrol Ship1Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear4Ship Submersible Nuclear6Assault Helicopters—Sea King Mk4　/ Merlin Mk32 SqnsSearch and Rescue—Sea King Mk51 SqnAirbourne Surveillance and Control—Sea King Mk73 Sqns  Anti Submarine and Anti Surface: Merlin Mk1 and Mk24 SqnsLynx Mk8 and Wildcat2 Sqns  Battlefield Helicopter—Wildcat1 SqnElementary Flying3 SqnsBeechcraft King Air 350ER Avenger1 Sqn Footnote: HMS Queen Elizabeth is not included. Named on 4 July 2014 by Her Majesty the Queen, current plans are for HMS Queen Elizabeth to commission in 2017. For the Royal Fleet Auxiliary:Order of BattleFleet Tanker2Support Tanker1Small Fleet Tanker2Fleet Replenishment Ship3Landing Ship Dock3Aviation Training Ship1Forward Repair Ship1   As at 16 October 2014 the Order of Battle for the Commando Brigade is:   3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines (Cdo Bde RM)HQ 3 Cdo Bde RM40 Cdo RM42 Cdo RM43 Cdo Force Protection Group (Gp) RM45 Cdo Gp RMCdo Logistics Regiment (Regt) RM30 Cdo IX Gp RM24 Cdo Engineer Regt (Army)29 Cdo Regt Royal Artillery (Army)

Armed Forces: Languages

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in the armed forces are in receipt of a Level (a) 3 and (b) 4 language allowance in Arabic.

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in the armed forces are in receipt of a Level (a) 3 and (b) 4 language allowance in Pashto.

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in the armed forces are in receipt of a Level (a) 3 and (b) 4 language allowance.

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in the armed forces are in receipt of a Level (a) 3 and (b) 4 language allowance in Dari.

Michael Fallon: The information requested is provided below:Level 3 (Professional) LevelLevel 4 (Expert) LevelTotal Armed Forces Personnel currently in receipt of Language Allowance301   Total Armed Forces personnel currently in receipt of Language Allowance - Arabic6NilTotal Armed Forces personnel currently in receipt of Language Allowance - Pashto211Total Armed Forces personnel currently in receipt of Language Allowance – Dari1Nil The information provided relates to the Defence Operational Allowance Language Award Scheme (DOLAS) and the Active Use Awards (AUA) under that scheme. Languages classified as Operational are Arabic, Pashto, Farsi, Dari and Somali. All other languages are not currently classified as Operational and therefore do not attract a language allowance payment within this scheme.

Armed Forces: Life Insurance

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether regular service personnel who take out the standard Pax Policy life insurance are covered in the event of death in non-war fighting operations.

Michael Fallon: They are. Pax personal accident insurance covers bodily injury as a result of an accident that results in death, catastrophic injury, permanent disability, specified burns, specified fractures, flesh wounds or hospitalisation, while on, and off, duty worldwide, at any time.Pax policies also offer an Optional Life and Critical Illness insurance extension which, if purchased, covers death from natural causes and certain specific critical illnesses at any time.

RAF Northolt

Mr Brian H. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much annual revenue his Department generates from the commercial or civil use of RAF Northolt.

Mr Philip Dunne: In the last full financial year, 2013-14, the revenue generated was £9.6 million.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether all items of cultural material from the HMS Victory 1744 wreck site will be acquired by the Maritime Heritage Foundation for deposition in one complete museum archive as required by the UNESCO Annex and Key Management Principles.

Anna Soubry: The project will follow applicable UK law, conditions of the Deed of Gift and the archaeological principles set out in Annex A of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. It is planned that all cultural items transferred under the Deed of Gift will be accessioned into the Victory 1744 Collection, as will the associated archive, including site plans, drawings and photographs. The Maritime Heritage Foundation has committed to manage and curate the Collection in line with the Museum Association's Code of Ethics for Museums. No items transferred under the Deed of Gift may be sold or disposed of without the consent of the Secretary of State for Defence.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he had with Lord Lingfield, then Sir Robert Balchin, regarding the formation of a company or charity to take on management of the wreck of HMS Victory 1744.

Anna Soubry: I have had no such discussions with Lord Lingfield. The Maritime Heritage Foundation, to which the wreck was gifted in January 2012, is a registered charity.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether completion bonds or other financial arrangements will be put in place before granting the Maritime Heritage Foundation permission to recover at risk surface items from the wreck site of HMS Victory 1744; and what specific communications there have been between government departments on that matter.

Anna Soubry: Funding for the approved next stage of the project (recovery of at-risk surface items, subject to a licence by the Marine Management Organisation) is underwritten by a financial bond provided by Odyssey Marine Exploration and held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Funding of the project has been discussed by officials from MOD and the Department for Culture Media and Sport as part of the assessment of the Project Design.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which museum will be taking the accessioned collection of material from HMS Victory 1744.

Anna Soubry: The Maritime Heritage Foundation has committed to ensure the public display of, and access to, the Victory 1744 Collection, and is in discussion about that arrangment with a UK museum; the Ministry of Defence is being kept informed of the progess of those discussions. Any agreement will be announced at the appropriate time. It should be noted that any artefacts recovered would need to go through a conservation process, which will take some time, before they could be displayed.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what sanctions are available to his Department if the Maritime Heritage Foundation or the Odyssey Marine Exploration attempt to sell any material of any kind from the wreck site of HMS Victory 1744 in contravention of the Deed of Gift, the UNESCO Annex and Government's Key Management Principles.

Anna Soubry: Clause 2 of the Deed of Gift prevents the Maritime Heritage Foundation (MHF) from selling, giving or otherwise disposing of anything transferred under the Deed without the express consent of the Secretary of State for Defence. No sale would be valid in the absence of such agreement and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) would be able to take direct enforcement action either through injunction or action for "delivery up" against a third party in possession of any artefacts requiring their return to the MHF.In addition, as the artefacts were transferred to the MHF on trust for the education and benefit of the nation, the MOD, as the donor, could seek cause of action for breach of trust if the Deed of Gift was found to be broken.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has been subject to any prospect of legal action by the Maritime Heritage Foundation or the Odyssey Marine Exploration, regarding the recovery of material from HMS Victory 1744.

Anna Soubry: There has been no threat of legal action by the Maritime Heritage Foundation or Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Middle East

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the direct military aid his Department provided to Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Afghanistan

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many servicemen and women from Northern Ireland were injured in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Afghanistan

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what legacy the Armed Forces leave in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

War Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claimants of the War Pensions Scheme in each age group receive (a) the Allowance for a Lowered Standard of Occupation and (b) the Unemployability Supplement.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what cost his Department (a) has and (b) will incur for the (i) design and (ii) editing of the British Armed Forces Learning Resource 2014.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

War Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much in total is paid to claimants of the War Pensions Scheme in each age group claiming (a) the Allowance for a Lowered Standard of Occupation and (b) the Unemployability Supplement.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

War Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much on average is received each week by claimants of the War Pensions Scheme in each age group who claim (a) the Allowance for a Lowered Standard or Occupation and (b) the Unemployability Supplement.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mali

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) HM service personnel and (b) civilians have been seconded by the UK Government to (a) MINUSMA and (b) the EU Training Mission in Mali; and how many such personnel speak both English and French.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Military Medals Review

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Sir John Holmes' independent Military Medals Review.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Military Decorations

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what criteria applications for service medals for auxiliary personnel are judged.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Private Finance Initiative

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the total private finance initiative liabilities of his Department are for the next 20 years; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: The Department does not have any PFI projects of its own but does provide support to local authority PFI projects through the revenue support grant system. The Coalition Government has strongly emphasised securing value for money from PFI including savings through its Operational Savings Programme. This Department has achieved programme savings of £497 million since 2010 from projects during procurement and savings from operational PFI projects of £33 million.Details of local authority sponsored PFI projects can be found on the government website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-projects=2013-summary-data. This currently provides information as at 31st March 2013 but will be updated shortly with data as at 31st March 2014.

Non-domestic Rates

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many small firms and shops have benefited from reductions in business rates in (a) England and (b) Crawley constituency.

Kris Hopkins: We have introduced a £1 billion business rate support package for 2014-15 including:– a 2% cap in the Retail Price Index increase in the small business rates multiplier;– a retail discount of £1,000 for around 300,000 shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000;– a 12 month extension of small business rate relief doubling, benefitting over half a million businesses;– a 50 per cent discount for new occupants of long-term vacant shops, and;– allowing ratepayers to pay bills over 12 instalments. The Department does not collect data on a constituency basis, but the Crawley constituency lies entirely within the Crawley Borough Council boundary. Table 1 (attached) shows, where available, the estimated number of properties that will benefit from each of the reliefs introduced or extended in 2014-15 within Crawley Borough Council, as well as the amount of relief awarded. Table 2 (attached) provides the same data, but for England as a whole.



Table 1 and 2 - Business Rates
(Word Document, 23.55 KB)

Private Finance Initiative

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many private finance initiative projects his Department contracted for in each year from 1997 to 2010.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government itself did not contract for any private finance initiative projects between 1997 and 2010. The Department did sponsor local authority PFI projects over this period. Details of Department sponsored local authority PFi projects can be found on the government website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-projects-2013-summary-data.The data can be filtered by procuring authority and then by date of financial close in order to determine how many PFI projects were supported by the Department in a specific year. This information is provided by Departments and published by Treasury each year. The current data is at 31 March 2013 but will be updated with data as at 31 March 2014 shortly.

Private Rented Housing: Evictions

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many section 21 notices were served in each of the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years.

Brandon Lewis: The Government does not collect this information.A section 21 notice is a notice served under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 by a landlord on their tenant which informs the tenant that the landlord requires possession of the property and that it must be vacated by the tenant. The service of a section 21 notice, like any other termination of a contract, is a private matter between the landlord and tenant.

Scotland Office

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on focus groups or surveys in 2013 or in 2014 to date.

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on legal fees over prevention of release of information requested by Freedom of Information requests since 2010.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on legal fees over prevention of release of information requested by Freedom of Information requests since 2010.

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many Freedom of Information requests his Department has declined to answer in full since 2010.

David Mundell: Since 2010 and up to the end of September 2014, the Scotland Office has answered 343 Freedom of Information requests in full out of 678 received. The other requests were not answered in full for a variety of reasons: the request may have been unclear, the Scotland Office may not have held the information, the request may have been exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or the cost of locating the information may have exceeded the appropriate limit under the Act. Where the request was not granted in full it may have been answered in part.

Mobile Phones

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on iPhones in each year since 2010.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on iPhones in any year since 2010.

Department for Transport

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Prosecutions

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many prosecutions have been brought against operators of unmanned aircraft in (a) England and Wales and (b) Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; how many such prosecutions were successful; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In the last 12 months the Civil Aviation Authority has prosecuted two operators of remotely piloted aircraft for breaches of the Air Navigation Order in England. Both prosecutions resulted in convictions.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to tackle wrongful use of unmanned aircraft operating within the airspace over Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The operation of unmanned aircraft within the United Kingdom is governed by the Air Navigation Order 2009. Additional guidance on operating unmanned aircraft legally is provided in Civil Aviation Publication 722 published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA will investigate any breaches of the Air Navigation Order and will prosecute offenders where appropriate.

Railways: North of England

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the economic benefit of High Speed 3 to the North West.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government has given the green light to develop proposals for HS3 as part of its long-term economic plan. HS3 will cut journey times, boost business and create more jobs and security for hardworking people in the North West. The Government, working with Transport for the North, will publish an interim report on a transport strategy for the North, including HS3, in March 2015.

Highways Agency

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the announcement in HM Treasury's paper, Cm 8669, Investing in Britain's Future, page 13, that £15,145 million will be allocated to the Highways Agency between 2015-16 and 2020-21, to what schemes and use that funding has been allocated; and how that allocation is apportioned over time.

Mr John Hayes: The Government’s proposals for the Road Investment Strategy (RIS) will be outlined in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement on 3 December.　 This will set out how the funding announced in the 2013 Spending Round will be allocated.

Road Traffic: Noise

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of acoustic fencing on reducing traffic noise levels.

Mr John Hayes: The science of noise barriers (acoustic fencing) is well established. A noise barrier creates a "shadow zone" behind it, reducing the energy of the sound waves in a comparable way to a breakwater protecting a harbour. The Highways Agency is actively encouraging developments in noise barrier technology and is represented on the British Standards Institution (BSI) committee involved in preparing new standards for noise barriers in line with the EU Harmonised standard EN1793.

Road Traffic: Noise

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of trees and vegetation in reducing traffic noise levels.

Mr John Hayes: It is well understood that trees and vegetation have a limited effect on noise propagation from roads, and a broad band of densely planted trees is required to significantly reduce noise. The EC’s 'HOSANNA' research project (Holistic and Sustainable Abatement of Noise by Optimised Combinations of Natural and Artificial Means) has identified and assessed vegetation strategies that could deliver perceptible noise reductions. The project’s findings became available between 2010 and 2013. The Highways Agency will consider these strategies for use on new or modified road schemes.

Road Traffic: Noise

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of different types of road surfaces on traffic noise levels.

Mr John Hayes: Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN) provides advice on appropriate road surface corrections to be applied within noise assessments. However, this advice does not currently extend to the range of proprietary thin bituminous surfacing materials, commonly regarded as a low-noise surfacing, which emerged in the late 1990’s. There is additional advice to CRTN procedures in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges in the noise and vibration standard HD213. Revised in 2011, HD213 sets out an example methodology which can be used to determine appropriate road surface corrections for low-noise surfaces.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

India

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the situation of religious minorities in India following the recent elections.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our High Commissioner to New Delhi, Sir James Bevan, met the new Indian Minister for Minorities, Mrs Najma Heptulla, on 16 June and discussed issues facing minority communities in India. Our High Commission in New Delhi also maintains a regular dialogue with officials in India’s national human rights institutions, including the Minorities Commission, and with the relevant State level authorities. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with the new Indian government about minority rights issues. We also support religious and other minorities in India through the Department for International Development’s programme in India which helps to promote equal treatment and access to services for the most disadvantaged communities.

Montenegro

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts about offering a Membership Action Plan for Montenegro; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The first cycle of Montenegro’s Membership Action Plan was initiated in 2009.The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), together with his counterparts from NATO Allies, met NATO’s aspiring members, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro, on 4 September 2014 during the NATO Summit in Wales to discuss their progress towards joining the Alliance. The Allies welcomed the significant progress made by Montenegro in its reforms and looked to Montenegro to continue its efforts to address the remaining challenges, particularly with respect to the rule of law and completing security sector reform.At the Summit, NATO Foreign Ministers agreed to commence ‘intensified and focused talks’ with Montenegro before reassessing their progress no later than December 2015. As a part of this process NATO’s Military Committee visited Montenegro on 27-28 October 2014.The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s Open Door policy on enlargement and welcomes the membership aspirations of all the countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.

Macedonia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Macedonian  counterpart about the possibility of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia joining NATO; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The first cycle of Macedonia’s Membership Action Plan was initiated in 1999 and in 2008 the Allies agreed that an invitation to join NATO would be extended as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the issue over its name has been reached with Greece within the framework established by the UN. This condition has not yet been fulfilled. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) together with his counterparts from NATO Allies, met NATO’s aspiring members, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro, on 4 September 2014 during the NATO Summit in Wales to discuss their progress towards joining the Alliance. At the Summit, the Allies reaffirmed their continued support for Macedonia’s eventual membership and encouraged them to meet the established conditions on which their next steps towards NATO depend. The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s Open Door policy on enlargement and welcomes the membership aspirations of all the countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.

Georgia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with NATO counterparts about offering a Membership Action Plan for Georgia; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, (Mr Hammond) together with his counterparts from NATO Allies, met NATO’s aspiring members, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro, on 4 September 2014 during the NATO Summit in Wales to discuss their progress towards joining the Alliance.At the Summit, NATO Foreign Ministers agreed to provide Georgia with a ‘substantial package’ of support and engagement measures in recognition of the reform progress it has made.Georgia was awarded an Annual National Programme, which is the tool used by MAP countries, in 2008. It continues to reflect Georgia’s strong and productive relationship with NATO and their commitment to the reform process.The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s Open Door policy on enlargement and welcomes the membership aspirations of all the countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the short term objectives are of the Indian Diaspora Champion.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work.Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget.The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job.The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

Ethnic Groups

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to appoint a diaspora champion for (a) Pakistan and (b) other countries.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work.Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget.The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job.The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Indian Diaspora Champion is taking to implement the Government's goal of stronger ties with India.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work.Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget.The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job.The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the purpose is of domestic visits by the Indian Diaspora Champion.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work.Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget.The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job.The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many candidates there were for the role of Indian Diaspora Champion; and how that Champion was selected.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work.Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget.The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job.The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many visits the Indian Diaspora Champion has made.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work. Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget. The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job. The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost is of the Indian Diaspora Champion.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Indian Diaspora Champion is taking in response to the changes in numbers of Indian students enrolling in UK university courses.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what overseas visits the India Diaspora Champion has made; and what the cost of those visits was.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Ms Patel), was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister in November 2013. Since then, she has led a programme of Indian diaspora engagement across the UK focused on strengthening UK-India ties. Her work has included direct outreach visits – including to Gravesend, Hounslow, Neasden, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester in the UK – as well as engagement with key people in the UK’s diaspora and in India itself, and relevant media work.Since her appointment, the Indian Diaspora Champion has made three visits to India. Funding for these visits has come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s existing budget.The Indian Diaspora Champion has made representations to both the UK Government and the Government of India on several issues on behalf of the Indian diaspora, including the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes, visa service issues, and bilateral trade and investment matters. Like other British Government representatives, the Indian Diaspora Champion has also sought to address misconceptions of the offer that the UK makes to Indian students in the UK, making clear that the UK welcomes Indian students, that there is no cap on total student numbers who can come to the UK, and that they can stay on after completing study if they secure a graduate-level job.The Government engages closely on a day-to-day basis with many diaspora communities in the UK, but has no plans at present to appoint further diaspora champions.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mr David Lidington: In 2013 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent £637,195.60 on surveys and recorded no spend on focus groups. In 2014 £336,146.22 was spent on surveys and £87,110.23 on focus groups. This work covered issues such as data on UK businesses investing abroad and consular research, including traveller behaviour.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on the possibility of offering a Membership Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited to initiate their first cycle of a Membership Action Plan in 2010 on the condition that they register their immovable defence property. This condition has not yet been fulfilled.The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), together with his counterparts from NATO Allies, met NATO’s aspiring members, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro, on 4 September 2014 during the NATO Summit in Wales to discuss their progress towards joining the Alliance.At the Summit, the Allies reaffirmed their continued support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s eventual membership and encouraged them to meet the established conditions on which their next steps towards NATO depend.The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s Open Door policy on enlargement and welcomes the membership aspirations of all the countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.

Macedonia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on the possibility of offering a Membership Action Plan for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The first cycle of Macedonia’s Membership Action Plan was initiated in 1999 and in 2008 the Allies agreed that an invitation to join NATO would be extended as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the issue over its name has been reached with Greece within the framework established by the UN. This condition has not yet been fulfilled.The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commomwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), together with his counterparts from NATO Allies, met NATO’s aspiring members, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro, on 4 September 2014 during the NATO Summit in Wales to discuss their progress towards joining the Alliance.At the Summit, the Allies reaffirmed their continued support for Macedonia’s eventual membership and encouraged them to meet the established conditions on which their next steps towards NATO depend.The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s Open Door policy on enlargement and welcomes the membership aspirations of all the countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.

Somalia

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to end sexual violence against women in Somalia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to eradicate sexual violence in conflict. We are committed to using UK expertise to help national Governments prevent and prosecute those responsible for sexual violence in conflict, to improve care for survivors, and to provide training to improve their military and police capability. The UK, together with the UN, has worked closely with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in the development of its national action plan for addressing sexual violence, which it announced at the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) Summit in London in June this year.The UK has in addition put £1 million this year into funding projects in Somalia to provide care and support to survivors including:o Improving the response to and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in three districts of Mogadishu (Yaqshid, Bondhere and Karaan), including the integration of support services (psychosocial, legal, and economic) within existing medical clinics; o In Lower Juba, increasing the capacity of local authorities to prevent and respond to cases of sexual violence, improve access to health facilities for survivors and improve the documentation of sexual violence cases; o Support for survivors of sexual violence in camps for Internally Displaced Persons in Mogadishu.The UK was extremely concerned by recent allegations relating to the conduct of soldiers operating as part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM). My hon friend the member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge MP), the Minsiter for Africa, raised these allegations with the AU and the relevant troop contributing countries, and an investigation is due to start imminently. The UK already supports pre-deployment training programmes for AMISOM on prevention of sexual violence, international human rights laws, and best practice in assisting women and children in the aftermath of violent conflict.

Nepal

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of human rights in Nepal.

Mr Hugo Swire: Human rights are generally well protected under Nepal’s Interim Constitution, although gaps remain in effective implementation. Overall, respect for civil and political rights has improved since the end of the conflict. But as I pointed out to my Nepali counterparts when I visited in May, the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Nepal should address crimes committed during the conflict in a way that is consistent with Nepal’s obligations under international law. Social and economic rights have also largely been on a positive trend, although discrimination, inequality and insecurity persist for many. Gender based violence remains a significant concern, and the UK will continue to prioritise it in our political and programmatic engagement with Nepal.

Paraguay

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on deforestation of uncontacted Indians' land in the Chaco region of Paraguay; and if he will make it his policy to liaise with other governments and international agencies to make representations to the government of Paraguay to halt that deforestation.

Mr Hugo Swire: We have received reports from both local and international non-governmental organisations regarding the deforestation of the Chaco region of Paraguay. Our Embassy in Asuncion, accompanied by the World Land Trust and Guyra-Paraguay, met the Environment Minister earlier this year to urge the Government to adopt sustainable development principles and consider the needs of the indigenous people in the area.

Iran

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Iranian government on the imprisonment of (a) Ebrahim Firouzi, (b) Shahin Lahooti, (c) Suroush Saraie and (d) Mohammad Roghangir.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain deeply concerned by the detention of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and by the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and to end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, most recently during our representations to the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Iran on 31 October.

Burma

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the draft religious conversion law proposed by the government of Burma.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Government has voiced our strong concerns over proposed legislation on religious conversion, both with members of the Burmese government and with Burmese parliamentarians. If enacted, this law would harm religious tolerance and respect for diversity in Burma, and contravene international standards such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During my visit in January, I delivered a speech in which I called for greater religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue. We continue to make clear that respect for freedom of religion and belief must be guaranteed.

Burma

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Burmese counterparts on ratification of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.

Mr Hugo Swire: We have had a number of discussions with the Burmese government on the importance of Burma ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). I personally raised the importance of adhering to international human rights standards and encouraged the ratification of key human rights treaties with Burma’s Deputy Foreign Minister when we met in June. At the request of the Burmese government the British Embassy in Rangoon recently funded an experts’ visit to Burma to identify steps that would need to be taken and issues that would need to be considered to ratify the ICCPR.

Sudan

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Sudanese government about lessons to be learnt from the case of Meriam Ibrahim.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Officials at the British Embassy in Khartoum have discussed the issues highlighted by the Meriam Ibrahim case with both the Sudanese Attorney General and senior members of the ruling National Congress Party. In addition, my Hon Friend, the member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge MP), the Minister for Africa highlighted the need for the lessons of this case to be learned in a recent letter to the Sudanese Minister for Foreign Affairs. The UK also ensured that this case was raised with the delegation from the Government of Sudan at the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which took place between 8-26 September.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he is making to his Israeli counterpart on access to, and sovereignty over, the Al Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv delivered a clear message to the Israeli Cabinet Secretary on 30 October, advocating reopening of the mosque. The mosque re-opened on 31 October for men over 50 and for women. It is vital that the longstanding status quo of the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif compound be preserved and we urge the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law as an occupying power in East Jerusalem.

Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Sweden on recognition of the state of Palestine; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Political Director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office discussed this issue with the Swedish Political Director on 3 November.

Department for International Development

Sierra Leone

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many British military and NHS personnel are in Sierra Leone to deal with Ebola; and what plans the Government has to increase their numbers.

Justine Greening: Some 800 military personnel have been deployed to Sierra Leone to aid in the UK effort. These personnel have supported the establishment of a command and control logistical hub that will provide the backbone of infrastructure, commodities, training and management needed to scale up the response in Sierra Leone. They are also supporting the ongoing construction and operation of Ebola treatment centres, and are running and staffing a World Health Organisation-led Ebola training academy. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, RFA Argus, and three Merlin helicopters have now arrived in Sierra Leone to provide crucial logistic and transport support to medical teams and aid experts.   To date the UK has received 2140 applications from British medical staff and initial indications of staffing profiles and needs were received from partners on 20 October. DFID and UKMED are currently matching profiles with staffing requirements. Pre-deployment training has already started in the UK for staff deploying to the Kerry Town facility.

New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department has given to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in each of the last three years.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The New Alliance was launched in May 2012. Since its launch, UK support to the New Alliance has focused on action to support agriculture, food security and nutrition – specifically, developing policy instruments, technology and innovation and risk management. DFID’s spend on these enabling actions over the last two completed years is as follows: (FY 2012/13) £12 million, (FY 2013/14) £17 million.

New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations she has made to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition on the effect of their policy on seed law on small farmers.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a joint initiative between African leaders, the private sector, donors and civil society to accelerate responsible investment in African agriculture and lift 50 million people out of poverty by 2022. The New Alliance is one of a number of initiatives aimed at promoting responsible private-sector investment in African agriculture in the context and in support of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and national priorities set out in Country Investment Plans. It does not have a corporate policy on seed law.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID engages regularly with a wide range of stakeholders and partners in the development, delivery and monitoring of its programmes. An estimate of expenditure on this could only be completed at disproportionate cost.

Jordan

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what refugee relief work her Department is undertaking in Jordan.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID is providing £122 million for humanitarian work in Jordan, providing food, healthcare and other support to thousands of refugees from Syria now living there. In addition, DFID is expanding support to municipal services and education in Jordan, to help the country deal with the impacts of the crisis.

West Africa

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to encourage other developed nations to support efforts to tackle the Ebola virus in West Africa.

Justine Greening: The British Government is playing a leading role in galvanising international support to tackle Ebola. The Defeating Ebola conference I co-hosted on 2 October generated over £100 million of support, and the Prime Minister’s call to European leaders secured a €1 billion commitment. We will continue to push international partners to do more.

Developing Countries: Education

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to seek international consensus on post-2015 education goals and targets.

Justine Greening: The Government is advocating for a simple, inspiring, and relevant post-2015 development framework, centred on eradicating extreme poverty. We are actively working with international partners to ensure that access to education and quality of learning is at the heart of the post-2015 focus on education.

South Sudan

Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help refugees from conflict in South Sudan.

Justine Greening: £42.5 million has been committed by DFID for support to refugees in the region through UN agencies including UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP. DFID offices in the neighbouring countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda are working closely to monitor the situation and provide guidance for future humanitarian support.

Developing Countries: Females

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to put women and girls at the heart of the UK's development programmes.

Justine Greening: Empowering girls and women is a top priority. The Strategic Vision for Girls and Women sets out the ambitious results we will deliver. Significant progress was made at the Girl Summit to tackle Child, Early and Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.

Middle East

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the situation of refugees in Syria and Iraq.

Justine Greening: The UN estimates that 6.4 million people are internally displaced in Syria and a further 1.8 million people internally displaced in Iraq. There are over 3.2 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.

Department for Education

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mr Nick Gibb: There was no centrally coordinated or funded focus group or survey activity in 2013.In 2014, The Department for Education spent £14,016 and £15,720 on two separate sets of centrally coordinated focus groups. Respectively, these were to support delivery of important campaigns aimed at increasing both the number of young people studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects, and also the number of two-year-olds receiving their entitlement to 15 hours of free childcare or early learning. We also subscribed to an online survey facility (Survey Monkey) at a cost of £299 for the year.To establish whether other areas of the Department have undertaken activity in this area would incur disproportionate cost.

Financial Services: Education

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on improving financial education in schools.

Mr Nick Gibb: Citizenship education is part the national curriculum at key stages 3 and 4. From September 2014 the new citizenship programmes of study included, for the first time, a requirement for schools to prepare pupils to manage their money and make sound financial decisions.At key stage 3, pupils should be taught about the functions and uses of money, the importance and practice of budgeting, and managing risk. At key stage 4, this should progress onto pupils being taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent.The new mathematics programme of study also makes clear that pupils should use formal mathematical knowledge to interpret and solve problems, including in financial mathematics.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout her Department's buildings and sites; if she will estimate the proportion of lighting in her Department which is LED; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education’s policy for new and replacement lighting is to consider the installation of LEDs, where appropriate, based on an assessment of suitability for the work setting and of the whole-life cost of the equipment. The Department has made significant improvements to the energy efficiency and cost effectiveness of lighting across its estate through the introduction of LED lighting and compact fluorescent lamps. We have also improved the performance of our lighting systems by installing and actively maintaining passive infra-red and daylight level sensors. The Department continues to review opportunities to install LED lighting across its estate to further reduce energy use, carbon emissions and ongoing maintenance costs. Approximately 7% of lighting within the Department’s buildings is LED.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will issue guidance to schools and sixth form colleges that they should implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting in their buildings.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education has no plans at present to issue guidance to schools and sixth form colleges to replace all lighting in schools with LED lights. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) together with the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust take the lead for government on research and publication of advice on LEDs. DECC are currently funding research and product development of LED lighting technology.Departmental specifications quote the guidance on lighting design for schools produced by the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL), specifically Lighting for education, Lighting Guide No 5, published in 2011 (LG5). The Department worked with SLL to produce LG5 which replaced the Department’s Building Bulleting 90 Lighting Design for Schools in 2011. SLL has also published Guidelines for Specification of LED Lighting Products, 2012.

Supply Teachers

Mr John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on the use of umbrella companies for supply teachers.

Mr David Laws: Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers and deciding whether to use private supply agencies to recruit and employ supply teachers. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency, this is a private commercial arrangement between the school and the agency.The Department for Education is not responsible for the regulation of teacher supply agencies or their umbrella organisations. Teacher supply agencies are regulated by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills under the employment agency provisions in the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of young people not in education, employment or training are BME.

Nick Boles: Definitive estimates of participation in education, training and employment for young people aged 16-18 are published by the Department for Education in a Statistical First Release (SFR) each June.These estimates cannot be broken down by ethnic group. However, local authorities in England collect information on 16-18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in their area and their ethnic group, which they report to the Department for Education through the National Client Caseload Information System.This information shows that, at the end of June 2014, 11.9% of young people NEET were from a non-white ethnic group, compared with 17.7% of the 16-18 cohort as a whole. The ethnicity of 5.4% of young people was not known to their local authority.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Forests

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prevent degradation and deforestation of woodland.

Dan Rogerson: Our Forestry and Woodland Policy Statement, published in January 2013, set out our three overall policy priorities. These are to protect, improve and expand our woodland resource. We are now implementing the actions we proposed to achieve these objectives. We have made tree and plant health a high priority as demonstrated in our recent Tree Heath Management Plan; and we are seeing increases in the area of woodland under management. Taken together with relevant regulatory frameworks regarding the felling of trees, they will significantly help to protect our woodlands from degradation and deforestation.

Landfill: Hazardous Substances

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what statutory instruments the Government can regulate historic landfill sites if it is suspected that they could be contaminated with poisonous gases or chemicals.

Dan Rogerson: Landfill sites are regulated by the Environment Agency under an environmental permit. Historic landfills are those that have never been or are no longer regulated under an environmental permit. The responsibility for investigating historic landfills and other land that may be contaminated rests with the local authority under the provisions of Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Slaughterhouses: CCTV

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps alongside the food industry to institute a voluntary code for installing CCTVs in slaughter houses.

George Eustice: The Government is currently awaiting the report of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee which is looking into the effectiveness of CCTV and other monitoring and verification procedures in slaughterhouses. We will look at options in the light of that report.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Dan Rogerson: Due to the way spend is recorded in the Department’s finance systems, this information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Dangerous Dogs

Mike Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs have been put down in each of the last five years under section 1 orders of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 by each police authority in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.

George Eustice: Statistics on this are not collected centrally from the police authorities.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the mode of storage and containment of water that has been used for the hydraulic fracking permitted by the Government to date; and whether any sites have been designated for this purpose.

Dan Rogerson: Flowback fluids from hydraulic fracturing operations are deemed to be a mining waste and therefore require an environmental permit from the Environment Agency for temporary storage on site. Subsequent treatment and disposal of the fluid at a waste treatment facility is also regulated by the Environment Agency. Waste waters must be stored in sealed tanks on bunded storage areas. The storage of wastewaters in open lagoons, as has sometimes been practised in the US, would not be permitted in this country.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what courses of action are available for people to raise concerns about suspected contamination of water as a result of fracking.

Dan Rogerson: Concerns about any suspected contamination incidents, irrespective of source, should be raised with the Environment Agency via its incident hotline, details of which are available on the GOV.UK website.   As far as fracking is concerned we have robust regulatory controls in place. Shale gas wells must be designed, built and operated to standards set in the regulations governed by the Health and Safety Executive, and the Environment Agency will not permit the use of substances hazardous to groundwater to be used in hydraulic fracturing where they may enter groundwater and cause pollution. Industry practice, underpinned by regulations, ensures monitoring will be required prior to, during and post-operation of the site.   As with any activity, the Environment Agency can take enforcement action to prevent or remedy pollution of groundwater caused by the actions of operators.

Fracking

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what chemical additives with a prospective use in hydraulic fracturing have been assessed for toxicological risk and other prospective health hazards by the Joint Agencies Groundwater Directive Advisory Group (JAGDAG); and if he will publish the URL where the minutes of JAGDAG meeting may be found.

Dan Rogerson: In England, for the purposes of the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Directive, the Environment Agency has the responsibility for making determinations of substances that may be hazardous in groundwater. It will not permit the use of ‘hazardous substances’ for any activity, including hydraulic fracturing, where they would or might enter groundwater and cause pollution.Hazardous substances are defined as those that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, or, for the Directives, where there are ‘equivalent levels of concern’. The Joint Agencies Groundwater Directive Advisory Group (JAGDAG) carries out peer reviews of these determinations, before recommendations are then put to public consultation. Substances that were proposed for use for hydraulic fracturing of shales in Lancashire have been assessed and were determined as non-hazardous. These were consulted on in 2012 following peer review by JAGDAG.Information about JAGDAG, including minutes of meetings, can be found at: http://www.wfduk.org/stakeholders/jagdag-work-area-0

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout her Department's buildings and sites; if she will estimate the proportion of lighting in her Department which is LED; and if she will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: LED lighting is considered as part of all building refurbishment projects and installed where investment over the projected life time of the building demonstrates value for money.   In 2011, Core Defra’s HQ building, Nobel House, was refurbished and LED lighting installed, with Passive Infra-Red (PIR) daylight and motion sensors.   Core Defra’s properties at York and Alnwick were refurbished in 2009 with energy efficient T5 fluorescent tube lighting with PIR daylight and motion sensors. LED lighting for office spaces was not considered value for money at that time. Future projects at these properties would consider upgrades to LED lighting.  The Core Defra estate has an estimated 40% LED lighting.

Biofuels: Air Pollution

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2014 to Question 211199, for what reason a decision was taken not to routinely assess the social costs of air pollution; and if she will now assess the social costs of biomass heat.

Dan Rogerson: Decisions on evidence needs are taken on a case by case basis taking account of our policy development requirements. In light of this, there are no current plans to investigate the social cost of biomass.

Environment Agency

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the average time taken between a receipt of application and the granting of (a) groundwater permits, (b) mining waste disposal permits, (c) water discharge activity permits, (d) water abstraction licences, (e) radioactive substances activity permits and (f) industrial emissions permits by the Environment Agency in the last four years.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency is required to determine 95% of development consent applications in 91 days or less subject to agreed exceptions. The Environment Agency continues to meet this target.The table below sets out the average time taken between receipt of application and the determination for applications under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR, covering activities (a),(b),(c) and (f)), and for water abstraction (d).  2011(Avg time in days)2012(Avg time in days)2013(Avg time in days)2014(Avg time in days)EPR average (a,b,c,f )79.381.161.853.2Water abstraction (d)127.590.975.849.4 The following table provides the average times taken for each EPR activity. Information is not held centrally for ground water applications or radioactive substances.  2011(Avg time in days)2012(Avg time in days)2013(Avg time in days)2014(Avg time in days)(a) & (c)Water discharge applications (including ground water discharges)41.345.334.035.4 All Waste permits (inc mining waste)125.692.379.864.6(b)Mining waste permitting42.5116.478.965.9(e)Radioactive SubstancesBased on the 14/15 half-year figures - 98.5% are determined in under 91 days (f)Industrial Emissions Permits82.7102.974.562.4

Agriculture: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she next plans to meet farming organisations in Wales.

Dan Rogerson: The Secretary of State met with a number of Welsh farming organisations when she visited the Royal Welsh Show on 21 July. We work closely with farming organisations across the UK and look forward to meeting representatives in due course.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Amber Rudd: The Department spent: £1,647,021 on surveys and £34,630 on focus groups in 2013; £2,613,726 on surveys and £76,925 on focus groups in 2014.

Carbon Emissions

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the social cost per tonne of emitted carbon his Department uses to judge the cost benefit of energy policies.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of renewable electricity and renewable heat was supplied by biomass fuelled technologies in the last year for which figures are available.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to paragraph 4.6.25 of the Consultation Document on UK Renewable Energy Strategy, published on 26 June 2008, what plans his Department has to consult on (a) an MOT-type scheme for biomass boilers and (b) other arrangements to maintain emission standards.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Secondment

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many employees of energy companies have been seconded to jobs in his Department since May 2010.

Amber Rudd: There have been 9 people from energy companies who have had periods of secondment in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the period May 2010 to date.

Climate Change

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the respective remits are of his Department and the Prime Minister's Envoy on Climate Change; and what the relationship between them is.

Amber Rudd: My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has appointed advisors and envoys on a number of issues, and determines their remit. This role is entirely separate from the responsibilities of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Deputy Prime Minister

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Graham Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the performance of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs); and which LEPs he has assessed as (a) highest and (b) lowest performing.

Greg Clark: The Government does not routinely carry out assessments of performance of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). As partnerships of business and civic leaders, LEPs are first and foremost accountable to their local community and local businesses.

Attorney General

Fraud: Wales

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many fraud prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has brought in Crown Courts in Wales in each of the last five calendar years.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the numbers of defendants and the outcome of prosecution proceedings, divided into twelve Principal Offence Categories, including ‘Fraud and Forgery’. The category of ‘Fraud and Forgery, includes offences prosecuted by way of the Fraud Act 2006, fraudulently evading income tax, VAT, excise duty or national insurance, bankruptcy offences, money laundering, forgery or using a false instrument and obtaining property, services or pecuniary advantage by deception. The table below shows, in each of the last five calendar years, the number of defendants prosecuted and finalised, in Crown Courts in Wales, where the Principal Offence was categorised as ‘Fraud and Forgery’.Total Prosecutions20091812010163201118520121802013149 Data Source: CPS Management Information System   The Principal Offence Category is assigned at the end of a prosecution to indicate the most serious offence with which a defendant is charged at the time of finalisation. It is not possible to disaggregate the outcomes of individual offences, such as fraud, without undertaking a manual search of case records which would incur disproportionate cost.  This table does not include those cases prosecuted by the DWP prosecution teams that merged with the CPS in 2012, as the DWP Cardiff team prosecutes cases in Crown Courts in England, as well as Wales. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of cases prosecuted solely in Wales without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Tesco

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, what reports he has received on whether the Serious Fraud Office will apply for additional funding from HM Treasury to finance its investigation into Tesco.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has a core budget to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute the most serious and complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption, and some exceptionally large cases will arise that require additional resources. However it is not in the public interest to specify in detail what resources the SFO intends to dedicate to each case.

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mr Robert Buckland: The following table contains the available costs information for internal staff or client surveys which the Law Officer’s Departments commissioned during 2013 and 2014. These costs were all incurred with Survey Monkey.   Subscription costs – Survey MonkeyDepartment20132014 Treasury Solicitor’s Department£272£296Attorney General’s Office£249£249HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate£203£151Serious Fraud Office£299-   The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not centrally record the number and costs of all surveys and focus groups across the organisation, and to determine this would involve contacting all CPS Areas to manually check their records over the two year period, which would represent a disproportionate cost.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Attorney General, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout the Law Officers' Departments' buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in the Law Officers' Departments which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Law Officers’ Departments are committed to reducing their energy usage and where it is cost effective to do would consider replacing lighting with LED systems. However there are currently no plans to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout the Law Officers' Departments' buildings and sites, most of which are leasehold.At present, neither of the buildings currently occupied by the Attorney General’s Office or Serious Fraud Office have any LED lighting, and the Treasury Solicitor’s Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate only have LED lighting in the lift lobby area of their main building.The CPS have replaced the lighting on one floor of their headquarters building with an LED system, but do not hold a central record of the technical specifications of the lighting systems in use in all of its buildings. To verify the details of all lighting systems would incur a disproportionate cost.The Law Officers’ Departments reduced CO2 emissions by 29% in 2012/13 exceeding the Greening Government Commitment (GGC) target to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% by 2014/15 compared to 2009/10.

Ministry of Justice

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mike Penning: The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record expenditure on focus groups and surveys. To obtain this information from across the Ministry would incur a disproportionate cost.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he intends to answer Questions 210325, 210324 and 210323 due for answer on 17 October 2014; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply.

Mike Penning: It was not possible to answer these questions within the timeframe for the original questions as the information was being assembled from a variety of statistical sources. It is still not ready, but I will write to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer vacancies at each grade there were in each prison in each month since January 2014.

Andrew Selous: Prison Officer vacancies are defined as a deficit of staff in post compared to benchmark staffing level. Benchmarks have now been agreed for most public sector Prison Service establishments which allow the reporting of staffing levels against benchmarks at prison level. Prior to the agreement of staffing benchmarks the inconsistency and uncertainty in the data held by the centre meant it was not possible to provide an accurate prison by prison breakdown of vacancies. The first set of verified data using agreed benchmarks was for 30 June 2014. NOMS is aiming to recruit approx 1,700 Prison Officers in 2014/15, into post or onto merit lists. Some of these are already in post. This would be sufficient to fill all current vacancies and those created by attrition by March 2015. Detached duty is being used in the short term to fill vacancies.  Band 3 to 5 Officers in Post at 30 June 2014 and Benchmark TargetEstablishmentStaff in Post (30th June 2014)Benchmark TargetDifferenceGartree160187-27Glen Parva180186-6Leicester100113-13Lincoln150161-11North Sea Camp4050-10Nottingham190210-20Onley120134-14Ranby180196-16Stocken150156-6Sudbury5062-12Whatton160164-4Bedford130137-7Bure16014119Chelmsford170191-21Highpoint230246-16Hollesley Bay5057-7Littlehey220234-14Norwich2001964The Mount140176-36Warren Hill100928Wayland1701673Brixton140151-11Coldingley100974High Down190206-16Isis140147-7Pentonville270272-2Wandsworth3002965Wormwood Scrubs240245-5Belmarsh4104028Frankland490492-2Full Sutton3803792Long Lartin35033416Manchester43041020Wakefield33032010Whitemoor340349-9Woodhill350394-44Elmley230238-8Ford5061-11Lewes170174-4Maidstone1101073Rochester150163-13Standford Hill6068-8Swaleside2402392Deerbolt15012624Durham190191-1Holme House24022119Kirklevington Grange50500Garth190207-17Haverigg100114-14Kennet70628Kirkham7072-2Lancaster Farms14012911Liverpool250254-4Preston180188-8Risley20018911Thorn Cross70682Wymott210212-2Aylesbury110130-20Bullingdon200215-15Huntercombe9094-4Isle of Wight270290-20Winchester160180-20Bristol1601555Channings Wood140148-8Dartmoor120121-1Erlestoke1101100Exeter140141-1Guys Marsh1301255Leyhill70655Portland1401373Cardiff1901874Swansea120124-4Usk/Prescoed7083-13Brinsford150182-32Featherstone120128-8Hewell220235-15Stafford130137-7Stoke Heath16015010Swinfen Hall150163-13Hull210244-34Leeds25022624Moorland420435-15Wealstun1901846 Notes1) Although benchmarks are agreed they are still subject to review and can therefore change if necessary to meet the requirements at the establishment to ensure a safe, decent and secure environment.2) Benchmark figures do not include transition staff at establishments.3) Only establishments with a finalised benchmark are included within the table. Benchmarks have not been set for the four Immigration removal Centres which NOMS runs for the Home Office, Buckley Hall which was benchmarked in the first competition and the five establishments commissioned by the Youth Justice Board. Benchmarks for women’s establishments are being finalised and are planned to be concluded by December 2014.4) NOMS manages vacancies through the use of payment plus for officer grades, overtime, agency staff and through the use of temporary detached duty.5) New capacity opening at Hull and Chelmsford has recently increased the benchmark requirement for which recruitment will be required.6) Staff in Post figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time to ensure consistency of reporting. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty with which information is held. However, it does mean that the level of shortfalls presented here is the difference of the benchmark to the rounded staff numbers and will therefore differ slightly from the unrounded figures which are used internally.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2014 to Question 200962, on mobile telephones, how many mobile telephones and SIM cards were found in each prison in England and Wales in 2013.

Andrew Selous: The number of finds in each prison establishment for the calendar year 2013 is shown in the table below. Please note that one find may constitute a handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only. This Government is clamping down on the use of mobile phones in prisons, and seizures have increased. Prisons use a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband such intelligence-led searches, body searches, use of x-ray machines, metal detectors and CCTV surveillance cameras, as well as body orifice scanners. The Offender Management Act 2007 made it a criminal offence to convey specific items, including mobile phones and associated equipment into or out of a prison or to transmit sounds or images from within a prison. In March 2012, the Crime and Security Act 2010 also made it an offence, with a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, to possess an unauthorised mobile phone or other electronic equipment or component element that can receive or transmit information electronically within a prison.PRISONTotalsTOTAL7,451  ALTCOURSE290ASHFIELD0ASHWELL0ASKHAM GRANGE1AYLESBURY176BEDFORD53BELMARSH126BIRMINGHAM133BLANTYRE HOUSE3BLUNDESTON6BRINSFORD182BRISTOL32BRIXTON23BRONZEFIELD13BUCKLEY HALL111BULLINGDON23BULLWOOD HALL1BURE1CANTERBURY7CARDIFF9CHANNINGS WOOD39CHELMSFORD4COLDINGLEY106COOKHAM WOOD1DARTMOOR11DEERBOLT4DONCASTER182DORCHESTER5DOVEGATE30DOVER5DOWNVIEW1DRAKE HALL0DURHAM20EAST SUTTON PARK6EASTWOOD PARK6ELMLEY103ERLESTOKE98EVERTHORPE45EXETER16FEATHERSTONE42FELTHAM22FORD202FOREST BANK165FOSTON HALL6FRANKLAND0FULL SUTTON2GARTH33GARTREE57GLEN PARVA3GLOUCESTER0GRENDON/SPRING HILL GRENDON0SPRINGHILL117GUYS MARSH54HATFIELD96HASLAR0HAVERIGG172HMP HEWELL166HIGH DOWN61HIGHPOINT203HINDLEY1HOLLESLEY BAY120HOLLOWAY5HOLME HOUSE9HULL2HUNTERCOMBE26ISIS HMP/YOI18ISLE OF WIGHT ALBANY0CAMP HILL1PARKHURST16KENNET8KINGSTON0KIRKHAM488KIRKLEVINGTON GRANGE9LANCASTER CASTLE0LANCASTER FARMS117LATCHMERE HOUSE0LEEDS8LEICESTER9LEWES51LEYHILL49LINCOLN1LINDHOLME63LITTLEHEY2LIVERPOOL65LONG LARTIN28LOWDHAM GRANGE24LOW NEWTON0MAIDSTONE26MANCHESTER12MOORLAND CLOSED20MORTON HALL2THE MOUNT220NEW HALL1NORTH SEA CAMP61NORTHALLERTON11NORTHUMBERLAND130NORWICH18NOTTINGHAM16OAKWOOD194ONLEY85PARC16PENTONVILLE149PETERBOROUGH44PORTLAND10PRESTON12RANBY229READING5RISLEY84ROCHESTER60RYE HILL113SEND13SHEPTON MALLET1SHREWSBURY0STAFFORD70STANDFORD HILL270STOCKEN11STOKE HEATH44STYAL13SUDBURY134SWALESIDE103SWANSEA61SWINFEN HALL10THAMESIDE98THORN CROSS109USK1PRESCOED4VERNE50WAKEFIELD4WANDSWORTH119WARREN HILL0WAYLAND15WEALSTUN120WELLINGBOROUGH1WERRINGTON HOUSE6WETHERBY1WHATTON3WHITEMOOR9WINCHESTER21WOLDS23WOODHILL64WORMWOOD SCRUBS128WYMOTT34  All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Cabinet Office

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Office spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was spent by (a) 10 Downing Street, (b) the Deputy Prime Minister's Office, (c) the Office of the Leader of the House and (d) the Cabinet Office on (i) focus groups and (ii) surveys in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date.

Mr Francis Maude: The Prime Minister’s Office, the Deputy Prime Minister's Office and the Office of the Leader of the House are integral parts of the Cabinet Office.Spend incurred by my department on focus groups and surveys does not fall into a dedicated account code and can therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

NESTA

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October to Question 209173, where on the provided URL the requested information can be found.

Mr Francis Maude: As per my answer of 13 October 2014 my special advisers did not receive any hospitality from Nesta during the period under question. Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published online. Officials and/or my advisers attend meetings alongside me. I can confirm that my special advisers did not separately meet Nesta during the period under question.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of those claiming jobseeker's allowance are BME.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Jobseekers Allowance BME
(PDF Document, 126.5 KB)

Unemployment: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of unemployed people are BME.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Jobseekers Allowance BME
(PDF Document, 100 KB)

Unemployment: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of those aged 16 to 24 who are unemployed are BME.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Jobseekers Allowance BME
(PDF Document, 102.04 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Mrs Helen Grant: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Internet

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the system for registering new .uk domains with Nominet is accessible and straightforward.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Nominet is responsible for managing the UK registry and any policy changes, such as the introduction of new .uk domain names, is done in full consultation with its stakeholders, which includes the Government. The Government favours this multi-stakeholder model approach to internet governance. The processes for .uk domains are fully transparent and Nominet has justified their policy position when publishing the response to the consultation on second level domain names.

Internet

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will carry out an international comparative assessment of the ease of registering for the new .uk domains as a UK business.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government has no plans to carry out such an assessment. The UK registry is one of the most open, trusted and competitive in the world and Nominet consulted extensively before the introduction of the new .uk domain names, including with the Government.

Internet

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received on Nominet's policy of first offering the new .uk domain names to the holder of the equivalent .co.uk domain.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government responded to the Nominet consultation regarding .uk domain names and supported stronger protection for holders of .co.uk domain names in order to protect existing brands and avoid consumer confusion. Officials subsequently met with officials from Nominet to discuss Nominet's revised approach following consultation responses from all stakeholders.